Hello All!
First, I’ve been lurking for a couple of weeks and I will begin by thanking everyone for the helpful information I’ve gotten so far.
I might be a little long winded here - it’s a habit of mine. My introduction to wet shaving is probably unremarkable. I got annoyed with the cost and wastefulness of my Mach3 razors. My approach to shaving has always been to shave in the shower and as I needed a closer shave I simply pressed harder against my face. It’s served me reasonably well, but irritation and a few hot spots always plagued my neck. My neck has always given me problems, far more so than my cheeks. I have a goatee so I don’t shave my lip or chin. Though I don’t have much to compare it to, I feel like I have a dense beard with fairly stiff hair.
On a whim, I bought a Parker Variant which I started to use in the shower, with the same technique as my cartridge. It didn’t go as well as I would have hoped. Those struggles brought me here.
I’m now about 5 shaves into the hobby and I’ve settled in with Proraso Green pre-shave, Mitchell’s Wool Fat Soap applied with an inexpensive badger brush, Duke Cannon’s post-shave balm. So far I’ve had the best luck with a Feather AS-D2 with Astra Superior Platinum blades. I shave WTG, ATG and then ATG touchups under my jaw.
I’m experimenting with various razors and blades and pre-shave, but I still struggle with my neck. And by “struggle” I mean, “after shaving, my neck looks like a map of Napolean’s losses during his Russian Campaign - possibly bloodier.” Oddly though, the bleeding stops after a few splashes of water and just a few minutes. Three hours later my neck feels fantastic (my cartridge razor shaves caused discomfort for days). And the shaves have been surprisingly close. For the first time in my life I’m willing to shave every other day. Heck, I’d probably be happy to shave every day, and I’ve literally NEVER done that in my whole life.
I still have a few things to try. I want to experiment with the “path” on the ATG neck pass, maybe moving in a slant and giving more slicing action will help. I also feel the blade “catch” against the hairs on my neck. I’m trying to shave with almost no pressure, so it feels like the razor will actually stop on my neck. I’d also like to try moving the razor a little more quickly so shear the hairs more snappily rather than grabbing and tugging. Now that I’ve got the hang of shaving without pressure, I might give a Feather blade or a Kai blade another try. If I continue to be stymied, I may be back for some help.
Next up for me, I’ve gotten a couple of other DE safety razors to try (Ikon B1 Open Comb Deluxe, RazoRock SLOC, Gillette Tech, and I even picked up the lovely PAA Ascension Copper when it was in stock for a moment). I also bought one of the Shave-Ready Gold Dollar 208s from Razor Emporium to give the straight razor world a try. Obviously, I’m counting on the vast trove of information available here to help me as I embark on this journey.
Thanks for everything so far. I’m excited for the trip!
First, I’ve been lurking for a couple of weeks and I will begin by thanking everyone for the helpful information I’ve gotten so far.
I might be a little long winded here - it’s a habit of mine. My introduction to wet shaving is probably unremarkable. I got annoyed with the cost and wastefulness of my Mach3 razors. My approach to shaving has always been to shave in the shower and as I needed a closer shave I simply pressed harder against my face. It’s served me reasonably well, but irritation and a few hot spots always plagued my neck. My neck has always given me problems, far more so than my cheeks. I have a goatee so I don’t shave my lip or chin. Though I don’t have much to compare it to, I feel like I have a dense beard with fairly stiff hair.
On a whim, I bought a Parker Variant which I started to use in the shower, with the same technique as my cartridge. It didn’t go as well as I would have hoped. Those struggles brought me here.
I’m now about 5 shaves into the hobby and I’ve settled in with Proraso Green pre-shave, Mitchell’s Wool Fat Soap applied with an inexpensive badger brush, Duke Cannon’s post-shave balm. So far I’ve had the best luck with a Feather AS-D2 with Astra Superior Platinum blades. I shave WTG, ATG and then ATG touchups under my jaw.
I’m experimenting with various razors and blades and pre-shave, but I still struggle with my neck. And by “struggle” I mean, “after shaving, my neck looks like a map of Napolean’s losses during his Russian Campaign - possibly bloodier.” Oddly though, the bleeding stops after a few splashes of water and just a few minutes. Three hours later my neck feels fantastic (my cartridge razor shaves caused discomfort for days). And the shaves have been surprisingly close. For the first time in my life I’m willing to shave every other day. Heck, I’d probably be happy to shave every day, and I’ve literally NEVER done that in my whole life.
I still have a few things to try. I want to experiment with the “path” on the ATG neck pass, maybe moving in a slant and giving more slicing action will help. I also feel the blade “catch” against the hairs on my neck. I’m trying to shave with almost no pressure, so it feels like the razor will actually stop on my neck. I’d also like to try moving the razor a little more quickly so shear the hairs more snappily rather than grabbing and tugging. Now that I’ve got the hang of shaving without pressure, I might give a Feather blade or a Kai blade another try. If I continue to be stymied, I may be back for some help.
Next up for me, I’ve gotten a couple of other DE safety razors to try (Ikon B1 Open Comb Deluxe, RazoRock SLOC, Gillette Tech, and I even picked up the lovely PAA Ascension Copper when it was in stock for a moment). I also bought one of the Shave-Ready Gold Dollar 208s from Razor Emporium to give the straight razor world a try. Obviously, I’m counting on the vast trove of information available here to help me as I embark on this journey.
Thanks for everything so far. I’m excited for the trip!